3.2... muffle it or muffle me

Purrybonker · 07-15-2003, 12:37 PM

Alright - this is all too much... Searching exhaust options on this forum has left this neophyte spinning.

SSI's, euro-pre, sport mufflers, cat, cat bi-pass, heat exchangers, thermal reactors, test pipes, 02 sensors, headers, dual-in, dual-out, etc. wow!

Tell me if I've got this right -

If I wanted to upgrade my exhaust I could obtain SSI's and a sport muffler. Cats, euro-pre's, bi-pass, etc. would all be redundant in this environment, correct?

What about dual-in/out, single-in/out with SSI's - what is the best option?

It's fairly easy to search down brand preferences on this forum - but picking up an understanding of the components and how they relate to each other is more of a challenge.

Thanks for your comments.

masraum · 07-15-2003, 12:49 PM

SSI's are basically headers, three cylinders per side into one outlet symmetrical per side of the engine. With SSI's you have no cat, premuffler, or bypass, and your only muffler inlet option is dual in, but then you can have single out or dual out.

eurocarrera · 07-15-2003, 01:00 PM

The general concensus seems to be:
Low cost, best bang for the buck = Dansk Pre-Muffler from Pelican along with either a Flowmaster custome muffler, or Dansk Sport Muffler (stainless or Black finish)

More expensive option but well proven = SSI Heat exchanger replacement along with any flavor of sport muffler. Remomber, that the muffler will be under the car, so you can't actually see the stainless steel.

Most expensive option (no heat for your car option) Headers = Jerry Woods Headers are supposedly one of the best are are touted highly in Bruce Anderson's book. Match this up to a Sport muffler for the most increase in power.

masraum · 07-15-2003, 01:01 PM

This is a bad drawing of SSI's (without the heater boxes) showing what some of the terms relate to

masraum · 07-15-2003, 01:02 PM

You won't usually see single out and dual out on the same muffler, but sometimes people will modify their muffler for that. In this instance it was just for the visual.

jhugh · 07-15-2003, 01:07 PM

If you need to do any kind of smog testing, don't bother with the SSI's. I found in trying all this stuff, that a premuffler and a dual-out Dansk netted me 99% of the noticeable power increase you'd get from doing anything you mention. And it's more easily reversible for smog testing - just pop the cat back in for a day.

Unless you're going to be doing some other aggressive internal mods, I honestly don't think you'd notice a difference between the SSI and premuff/sport muff routes.

Cheers,
~John

Purrybonker · 07-15-2003, 01:28 PM

Excellent info, excellent art work, thanks guys.

With the pre-muffler - I assume that replaces the cat/bolts up to the stock "headers" and would have a "single out" leading to the muffler.

So the benefit of the pre-muffler basically comes from the elimination of the cat?

jhugh · 07-15-2003, 02:26 PM

Yeah, I think the benefit of the premuffler does come from the elimination of the cat, but also seems to work better than a straight cat bypass. Probably something to do with creating an expansion chamber or maybe a small but crucial amount of back pressure??? I don't know - what do I know? I only know that the Fabspeed premuffler that I bought made noticeably more of a power increase and freer revability (revs up and down more quickly) than the Bursch cat bypass I'd originally tried. Either way, it was better than with the cat on there.

If I had to do it over again (which I might do anyway), I'd definitely get the Dansk premuffler from Pelican. The Fabspeed has some fitment problems and the 02 sensor only measures half the engine's exhaust output.

thrown_hammer · 07-15-2003, 02:33 PM

I took a peice of rebar and a hammer to the internals of my cat...Seriously.

masraum · 07-15-2003, 02:35 PM

Supposedly that's not as big an improvement as the proper premuffler.

thrown_hammer · 07-15-2003, 02:59 PM

It's a bigger improvement for my wallet...

Wil Ferch · 07-15-2003, 05:02 PM

Purrybonker:
From your last question...not entirely correct. It would be a pre-muffler that then leads to a single *in* muffler...referring to the final muffler that goes across the car in the back. Yes, the pre-muffler would be "single-out" but no one uses that term at that particular location. "Single out" or "dual-out" are terms commonly used for the final muffler, the one that goes across the back of the car.
---Wil Ferch